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Shop 7 / 318-320 Wardell St Enoggera Q 4051 www.hlcnorth.com.au MOBILE TAX AGENT 10 DAY REFUNDS!! *subject to ATO processing 17 Years Specialising In Returns For Defence Force Personnel Available anywhere, Home, Office or Visits to Ships at a time that suits you. Option to Deduct Fee from Refund Cheque. Electronic Lodgement. All Tax Returns --- including Previous Years, Negative Gearing, Managed Funds or Share Por tfolios. Group Discounts available Use of Defence Force Industry Tax Rulings for the best outcome. Free Taxation Advice including Negative Gearing, available with each Retur n. Contact: Derek Ryder, B.Bus Accountant Licensed Tax Agent 243 Darley Road North Randwick (opposite Queens Park) Tel: 02 9399 8769 Mob: 0418 603 499 Anytime tax243@bigpond.com.au Military Plaques • Crystal an glassware • Sculpture Now stocking Sporting Medals an Trophies. SPIT POLISHED PRESENTATIONS Shane & Liz Clark P.O. Box 534, Morayfield Qld 4506 spitpolishedpresentations@bigpond.com Ph: 07 5495 8036 Fax: 07 5495 5161 14 WORLD NEWS Army August 7, 2008 By Capt Douglas McGuire MOST diggers are delighted whenever they get mail on operations -- it's a treasured link with home and a powerful reminder of a connection with loved ones who may seem painfully distant. Cpl Adam Walsh has more experience of this than most -- the kids of Muller Christian School in Brisbane have written more than 200 letters to him for troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Cpl Walsh, whose wife Alison teaches at the school in Radcliffe, is a Bushmaster commander with Reconstruction Task Force 4. He said he was astonished when the first boxes and envelopes started to arrive. "It happened out of the blue about a month after the tour began, all the boxes and parcels started arriv- ing. I've now had at least 200 -- probably more -- some addressed to me and some to 'a soldier', which is lovely. It started off slowly but now they're coming from Kinder and Year 1 and 2 kids," he said. "It makes you realise that there a lot of people thinking about you. There are great little drawings and the boys are stoked. You might not believe this but all the pin-ups were taken down and these letters have gone up in their place." Cpl Walsh is now planning to get the soldiers to reply to one of the letters each to let the schoolchildren know what the diggers are doing and how much the messages mean to them. One message, from Maddeline, reads: "To soldiers. I hope you can come back soon. God will be with you. Thank you for trying to keep the peace. People are missing you. We are thinking of you." By Capt Joe Nyhan THE old adage "an Army marches on its stomach" still holds true. For Australian soldiers and airmen serving with the Security Detachment in Baghdad, a decent meal is one of the things they look forward to the most. Two of the most important members of the 120-strong Secdet 13 team are Army caterers, WO2 Shane Thornton and Cpl Tim Haigh. Together they pre- pare about 1000 meals every week for Secdet personnel, giving the diggers a taste of home and supplementing the food available at the large American caf- eteria nearby. WO2 Thornton said that apart from the extreme heat and dust in Baghdad throughout the summer months, there were other challenges he and Cpl Haigh faced when trying to work out what to feed the troops. The unpredictable supply chain has caused both men to become rather resourceful. "The rations are a bit of a lucky dip. Every Friday night we open the ship- ping container with crossed fingers, not knowing what we're going to get," WO2 Thornton said. "We try to offer multiple choices and know that what we do is a morale boost- er. Having Australian food is something everyone looks forward to." OC Secdet 13 Maj Ewen Hedges agrees that having the two 7RAR cater- ers deployed as part of the combat team makes life on operations much more bearable. "The food at the American mess is good, but as Australians we often like our food a little bit different so it's just great to be able to have our own cooks," he said. "Our guys do a wonderful job and are very versatile. They knock up birthday cakes, provide support for functions and do finger food on 15 minutes' notice. "The fact they can take issued meat loaf, add a few bread crumbs and some pastry and turn it into good old Aussie sausage rolls speaks volumes for their capability." Recipe for success Pin-ups come down in favour of kids' letters Food for thought: 7RAR caterer WO2 Shane Thornton ensures plenty of lunch choices for members of Secdet in Baghdad. Photo by Capt Joe Nyan Words from home: Cpl Adam Walsh reads mail from Muller Christian School in Brisbane. Photo by Cpl Neil Ruskin